The Justice Department spied extensively on Fox News reporter James Rosen in 2010, collecting his telephone records, tracking his movements in and out of the State Department and seizing two days of Rosen’s personal emails,the Washington Post reported on Monday.

‘Breaking anti-espionage law’

In a chilling move sure to rile defenders of civil liberties, an FBI agent also accused Rosen of breaking anti-espionage law with behavior that—as described in the agent’s own affidavit—falls well inside the bounds of traditional news reporting.

Fox News responds with a blistering statement that asserts Rosen was “simply doing his job” in his role as “a member of what up until now has always been a free press.”

‘Unconstitutional’

The revelations surfaced with President Barack Obama’s administration already under fire for seizing two months of telephone records of reporters and editors at the Associated Press. Obama last week said he makes “no apologies” for investigations into national security-related leaks. The AP’s CEO, Gray Pruitt, said Sunday that the seizure was “unconstitutional.”

The case began when Rosen reported on June 11, 2009, that U.S. intelligence believed North Korea might respond to tighter United Nations sanctions with new nuclear tests. Rosen reported that the information came from CIA sources inside the hermetic Stalinist state. FBI agent Reginald Reyes wrote that there was evidence Rosen had broken the law, “at the very least, either as an aider, abettor and/or co-conspirator,” the Post said.

Do you think James Rosen indeed broke the law in the course of his information research? Is spying on a reporter counted as an “unconstitutional” act?

In July, Prep Rally brought you the disturbing story of Martin Tremblay, a youth hockey coach in British Columbia who was caught on video tripping a 13-year-old opposing player in a postgame handshake line. Making matters worse, the victim of the incident suffered injuries from his fall after he fractured his wrists while using them to break his fall.

‘Guilty plea’

At the time, Tremblay was arrested and issued charges for his actions. Now, some seven months later, he has been sentenced to 15 days in jail for actions that have apparently also ruined his life.

As reported by the CBC and Associated Press, Tremblay was sentenced to 15 days in jail to be served out on intermittent weekends and 12 months of probation in relation to two counts of assault stemming from the incident. The judge’s ruling apparently surprised both Tremblay and his lawyer after the former coach pleaded guilty to the charges in November. At the time it was believed that guilty plea would likely keep the coach from serving time in prison.

‘Cowardly sucker punch’

As it turns out, the 15 day sentence was an even harsher penalty than the 30 days of house arrest which had been proposed by the Crown (that’s the state in Canada). In declaring his sentencing verdict, judge Patrick Chen said that Tremblay had abused the trust of the public in his position as coach and said the tripping action was akin to, “a cowardly sucker punch.”

What is your opinion regarding this tripping incident? Does former hockey coach Martin Tremblay deserve the jail sentence?